Lama Chopa and Tsog

with Emily Hsu

Thursday, June 256:00pm – 7:00pm

The Tsog offering is a profound part of the Guru Puja (Lama Chöpa in Tibetan) regularly held at FPMT Centers.

When coming to a tsog, bring a food offering to share. This is usually a snack item that can be easily passed out. (We have a request from some participants to consider bringing more healthful offerings, perhaps nuts, crackers, fruit.)

All are welcome!

Offered free – donations appreciated.

Tsog means gathering. We gather together the things we’re offering, and we ourselves gather together to do the practice. Gathering together with other practitioners, concentrating our minds into the same space, gives us great inspiration. It’s much better than just doing puja alone in our own rooms. This is the Tibetan connotation of tsog.

Tsog in the Tibetan tradition is a most profound method of purification, a profound way of gaining realizations. When you recite the text in English you can see how many subjects are included in the practice. The Guru Puja, for example, covers the entire path to enlightenment from beginning to end. So it can happen that in your daily meditations on the lamrim you’re not making any obvious progress, then suddenly during a puja, because of the conducive atmosphere you’ve created, zoom! — some realization comes into your mind. Many people have gained realizations during a puja simply because of the atmosphere.

The Lam-Rim Merit Field

Another connotation of tsog is ‘party’ — a party at which we share
simultaneously born great wisdom and bliss. Now that’s a party.